Lynn Ruth Miller recalls the Panty Raids of the ’50s

A meteorite fell out of the sky in Russia and I think Vladimir Putin should take note. When it feels like the sky is falling on you, it is time to think about your priorities. I was in Moscow last fall right after the Pussy Riot incident. Remember that? Three young women were charged with hooliganism because they sang obscenities in a Russian Orthodox Cathedral begging the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”.

Hooliganism is defined as “a tough or aggressive youth.” When you think about it, almost any action by a teenager these days can be defined as tough and aggressive by parents and teachers. What a conservative, established adult might label “tough or aggressive”, might very well feel like a lot of fun to the accused.

Does that mean Russia is outlawing fun? What a terrible loss for its population. Life can be very dull without a few pranks. Take the Panty Raids at the University of Michigan back in the ‘50s. I was there and I remember it well. It had been a miserably long hard winter with snow, ice and wind confining most of us indoors for weeks at a time.

“The place looked like a landscape advertisement for Ann Summers”

Driving was impossible, walking a chore and there was no evidence of relief. One freezing spring night, a group of students battling frustration, alcohol and excess testosterone, erupted from their all male dormitories and invaded the women’s residences. They tore open bureau drawers and ransacked closets throwing women’s undies out of windows, hanging bras on telephone poles, draping corsets on trees. The place looked like a landscape advertisement for Ann Summers. Indeed, Victoria’s Secret was revealed.

If you want to get picky about it, the boys were certainly destructive… it took months to retrieve our underwear and most if it was damaged beyond repair. The men were certainly aggressive, pushing their way into boudoirs forbidden to the male sex. In those days, men were not privy to female undies. They actually were thrilled at the touch of satin knickers or a lacy bra.

That was over 60 years ago. Today I don’t think there’s a guy on the planet who gets a thrill from a glimpse of lingerie. They see it every day on every woman who has a bit of cleavage worth showing.

I can understand why those girls appealed to The Virgin Mary to help them with their political goals. After all, they say that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, and Mary rocked a very influential cradle in her day.

Now, I ascribe to no particular religious belief but I cannot help but believe that when The Virgin Mary saw Russia suppressing young girls for expressing their views, she remembered how she felt when she told Joseph her news.
I think, when Mary saw what was happening in Russia, she thought:

“It is time to remind those judges that the girls they are condemning are the potential mothers of the next generation. Their children will either re-elect Putin because they forgive him, or denounce him for his restrictive policies. “

I can almost hear the severe tone of her voice when she said to the father of us all: “Daddy! If this continues, who knows whom they will attack next?” I like to think that meteorite fell to remind the Russians that somewhere, somehow, there is a higher power that believes in freedom of thought. I know it’s a far fetched theory, but when I remember how silly it would have been to arrest the students who were throwing knickers at passers-by in the ’50s, I cannot help but think it was just as silly to jail three young women for having an opinion of their own. In another 50 years, a group just like them might very well be singing Mass.

You must have chaos within you
To give birth to a dancing star.– Friedrich Nietzsche